The Significance of an Interwoven Network in the Prologue
3.4. The Wave Aspect of the Opening Unit
3.4.2. The Co-textual Flow of the Second Paragraph (Rev 1:4-8)
We will now elucidate the co-textual flow within the second paragraph (Rev 1:4-8) by examining the interrelations between its embedded units. First, cohesive interrelatedness is found between the embedded cola within the third micro-paragraph in terms of their lexical
connections and semantic relations. The pronoun u`mi/nan anaphora (colon 5) refers back to the
seven churches which are denoted as the epistolary recipients in the form of an adscription (colon 4). This lexical connection is further enhanced by the fact that cola 4 and 5 are constrained by the typical frame of NT epistolary prescription.
In addition to this surface structural relationship, a certain functional relationship can be found between cola 4 and 5. In a semantic sense, the greeting functions as introductory content to the epistolary communication between the sender and the receivers. The greeting, which is
communicated from God, the seven Spirits, and Jesus Christ,51 preliminarily signifies the tone
of the overall messages, since their titles are specifically designated and significantly related to the main epistolary message. Therefore, the functional slot of colon 5 can be identified as ‘content’ in relation to the thesis of colon 4. The interrelatedness within the third micro- paragraph can be diagrammed in this way:
51
Verse Colon Semantic
Configuration Relations
1:4 4 VIwa,nnhj tai/j e`pta. evkklhsi,aij tai/j evn th/| VAsi,a|\ thesis
5b ca,rij u`mi/n kai. eivrh,nh
5c avpo. o` w'n kai. o` h=n kai. o` evrco,menoj
5d kai. avpo. tw/n e`pta. pneuma,twn a] evnw,pion tou/ qro,nou auvtou/
1:5a 5e kai. avpo. VIhsou/ Cristou/( o` ma,rtuj( o` pisto,j( o` prwto,tokoj tw/n nekrw/n introductory
kai. o` a;rcwn tw/n basile,wn th/j gh/jÅ content
Interestingly, the salutation period that consists of ‘a grace and peace wish’ and its threefold
source shows the following two grammatical anomalies (colon 5): (1) the nominativeso` w'n kai.
o` h=n kai. o` evrco,menoj after the preposition avpo,;52 (2) the nominatives o` ma,rtuj o` pisto,j( o` prwto,tokoj, o` a;rcwn in apposition to the oblique case – the genitives VIhsou/ Cristou. These grammatical anomalies, of course, cannot be attributed to John’s linguistic incompetence, as
many have pointed out.53 Rather, these nominatives, which abruptly break the grammatical
continuity in the surface structure level, seem to be used stylistically to highlight their signified concepts, since the first avpo, orVIhsou/ Cristou requires “a moment’s pause” in oral enactment, and it calls the audience’s attention to the significance of the threefold titles.54 The elaborate set of three substantives o` w'n kai. o` h=n kai. o` evrco,menoj signifies conceptually not only God’s transcendence and sovereignty over all events throughout history, but also His intervention into the world,55 denoting that all time – present, past, and future – is embraced in His presence.56
52 The expression o` h=nis also a grammatical anomaly since the finite verb is preceded by an article in parallel
with the two participial clauses.
53
E.g., Charles, 1920a, 10, 13-14; Beckwith, 1922, 424-28; Caird, 1966, 16-19; Sweet, 1979, 65-66; Vanni, 1991, 354; Wallace, 1996, 62-64; Aune, 1997, 24-25, 30; Mounce, 1998, 46 n. 7, 48 n. 17; Beale, 1999, 188-92. Most NT scholars admit that John does not use the nominatives haphazardly or in poor Greek, since he accurately uses the
genitivetw/n e`pta. pneuma,twnafter the secondavpo..in the same passage. The substantives in the nominative case may
be used as indeclinable titles. The significance of the two anomalies will be discussed further in due course.
54
Vanni, 1991, 354.
55
Departing from Jewish or Greek threefold formulae which merely indicate Yahweh’s unchanging existence,
John emphasizes the efficacious character of Yahweh by usingevrco,menoj, the present participle of the verbe;rcomai,
rather than evso,menoj, the future participle of eivmi,. This is an example of the use of the present tense with future
meaning; however, it does not refer to mere future existence, but “his coming to the world”, as Bauckham suggested, see Bauckham, 1997, 29; see also Beasley-Murray, 1974, 54; Mazzaferri, 1989, 286; Murphy, 1998, 68; cf. Walther,
The threefold title ascribed to Jesus Christ also intimates His redemptive activity in a temporal sense in line with an early Christian confessional formula – the death, resurrection, and ascension.57 The first title, o` ma,rtuj( o` pisto,j, characterizes Christ as the faithful one who
witnessed up to the point of death – His past earthly salvific ministry (cf. Rev 2:13; 11:17;
17:6).58 The second title, o` prwto,tokoj tw/n nekrw/n, characterizes Christ as the representative
one who has brought new life to God’s people by means of His resurrection – His present
salvific activity (cf. Col 1:18). The third title, o` a;rcwn tw/n basile,wn th/j gh/j, characterizes Christ as the sovereign who not only holds the universal kingship on earth by His exaltation, but who will also fully exercise it – His present andfuturesalvific activity (cf. Rev 19: 16). In this temporal sense, Christ’s threefold title is paralleled semantically with the divine threefold title. Furthermore, in the surface structure, God and Christ’s threefold titles are highlighted in the third micro-paragraph in terms of their grammatical anomalies. In the deeper structure their salvific intervention into the history connoted in their emphatic titles is elucidated as the significant basis from which the churches’ grace and peace proceed.
The fourth micro-paragraph begins with the doxology, as noted above. The four hymnic statements are peculiarly ascribed to Christ, comprising the compound doxology (cola 6a, 6b, 7,
6c),59 whereas a single hymnic statement is typically ascribed to God in NT doxologies (e.g.,
Rom 11:36; Gal 1:5; Eph 3:21; Phil 4:20; 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Heb 13:21; 1 Pet 4:11; 2 Pet 3:18). The first statement in colon 6a semantically functions as a causal basis for the second statement in colon 6b – Christ’s love results in the churches’liberation60 from sin by His death.
1995, 169.
56
Mounce, 1998, 46.
57
See also Beasley-Murray, 1974, 56; Caird, 1966, 16; Mounce, 1998, 48-49; cf. Fiorenza, 1993, 41-43.
58
The wordma,rtujis often used in relation to the death of Christians in Revelation.
59 The definite article of the first substantival participle goes with the other two substantival participles,
indicating that they all refer to Christ.
60
For a discussion of the textual variant reading –lu,santiandlou,santi– in Rev 1:5b, see section ‘3.5.2.
This relationship between the motifs of love and death is often found in some formulaic
passages of the NT (Gal 2:20; Eph 5:2, 25; cf. Rom 5:8).61 The third hymnic statement in colon
7 has the relation of ‘thesis and result’ with the two previous statements in colon 6ab. The statement signals the status of the epistolary recipients –the royal priests of the kingdom of God – as an accomplished fact by the use of the aorist tense in distinction from the two previous present substantival participles. These three hymnic statements thereby imply the following concept: Christ’ love and liberation has resulted in their present status as the royal priests of the kingdom of God (cf. Rev 5:9-10; 1 Pet 2:9). Furthermore, in relation to the last hymnic statement, the three previous statements semantically denote the reasons why the ‘glory and power’ is ascribed to Christ. The first three hymnic statements and the last statement thereby form the semantic relationship of ‘reason and thesis’. The final independent ‘amen’ colon within the doxology is a liturgicalresponseto the ‘reason-thesis’ statements. Therefore, it may be said that the dialogic relationship of ‘initiative thesis and responsive thesis’ is implied between them. More significantly, the anomalous syntagmatic relation is found in the grammatical arrangement of the four hymnic statements. The third statement is parenthetically located as an
independent sentence (or colon) between the second and fourth statements: kai. lu,santi h`ma/j
kai. evpoi,hsen ... auvtw/| h` do,xa kai. to. kra,toj eivj tou.j aivw/naj.62 The third statement introduced by the aorist indicativeevpoi,hsenshould be a subordinate relative clause witho]j.63 Or just as like
others the verb should be taken as the dative form of the aorist participle poih,santi. This
anomalous syntagmatic arrangement, however, seems to be used intentionally for highlighting the third statement as a parenthetic statement, the most notable reason for the fourth statement. In this sense, the parenthetic statement can be regarded as the emphatic point of the doxological
61
Aune, 1997, 46.
62
The first, second, and fourth statements comprise a colon.
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unit, although the overall co-textual flow of the doxology converges into the liturgical dialogue relationship of the last hymnic statement and its response (cola 6c and 8).
As noted above, the doxology can be expanded to the eschatological closing unit (Rev 1:7; cola 9-13) due to the repeated use of the doxological closing elementnai,( avmh,n at the end of the unit (colon 13). This expansion can be substantiated further by the lexical connection between them: (1) the two emphatic cola 7 and 9 have the same subject – Christ; (2) the anaphoraauvto,j
and its various forms are used repeatedly, referring back to Christ throughout the unit. Colon 9,
introduced by the emphatic phrase Vidou,, refers to the Parousia in a prophetic manner. The
Parousia-related utterance continues to the subsequent co-text with the overtone of prophetic proclamation. The subsequent three cola describe prophetically the universal manifestation of Christ’s coming (cola 10-11) and the universal human response (colon 12) to His coming. These three cola semantically denote the consequential results of the Parousia in colon 9. Therefore, the eschatological closing unit is tied by the semantic relationship of ‘thesis-result’ between colon 9 and cola 10-12. Again, in parallel with the liturgical dialogue frame of the doxological unit, all the previous utterances related to the Parousia in the eschatological closing unit are liturgically responded by the doxological closing,nai,( avmh,n.
In light of the boundary of the expanded doxology, the embedded eschatological closing unit, which refers to Christ’s coming in a liturgical dialogue form, can be the ultimate semantic reason why the ‘glory and power’ is ascribed to Christ implied in the main co-textual focus in the doxology (esp. cola 6c and 8). In this sense, we may say that the eschatological closing unit co-textually functions as a reason for the proposition of the previous unit. The overall lexical and semantic network of the fourth micro-paragraph can be diagrammed as follows:
Verse Colon Semantic
Configuration Relations
1:5b 6a Tw/| avgapw/nti h`ma/j thesis reason
6b kai. lu,santi h`ma/j evk tw/n a`martiw/n h`mw/n evn tw/| ai[mati auvtou/( Initiation
1:6 7 kai. evpoi,hsen h`ma/j basilei,an( i`erei/j tw/| qew/| kai. patri. auvtou/( result thesis
6c auvtw/| h` do,xa kai. to. kra,toj eivj tou.j aivw/naj Îtw/n aivw,nwnÐ\ thesis
8 avmh,nÅ response
1:7 9 VIdou. e;rcetai meta. tw/n nefelw/n( thesis
10 kai. o;yetai auvto.n pa/j ovfqalmo.j thesis Initiation
11 kai. oi[tinej auvto.n evxeke,nthsan( reason
12 kai. ko,yontai evpV auvto.n pa/sai ai` fulai. th/j gh/jÅ equiv. th. result
13 nai,( avmh,nÅ response
Thus, the doxology and the eschatological closing form the same semantic relationship of ‘initiative thesis and responsive thesis’ in their inner co-texts. In a larger discourse level, however, the functional slot of the latter plays the role of the reason for the former. Therefore, the reason for the ascription of the glory and power to Christ, which is based on His past and present salvific activity, is reinforced by the subsequent reason that is based on His future salvific acts. Along with this temporal aspect of the semantic relations, the overall co-textual flow of the fourth micro-paragraph shows a forward-moving aspect towards the Parousia-related closing. In this overall co-textual flow of the fourth micro-paragraph, cola 6c and 8 function as a co-textual focus which not only refer back to the whole of the previous co-textual flow, but also refer to the subsequent co-textual flow of the immediate unit.
The final micro-paragraph denotes the self-identification of God by utilizing the quotation formula le,gei ku,rioj (Rev 1:8).64 The threefold title o` w'n kai. o` h=n kai. o` evrco,menoj, which echoes the precisely same phrase in the third micro-paragraph, is used appositionally with the
64
Hartman, 1980, 138. The quotation formula for divine oraclele,gei ku,rioj is frequently found in the NT,
e.g., Act 7:49; 15:17; Rom 12:19; 14:11; 1 Cor 14:21; 2 Cor 6:17; Heb 8:8, 9; 10:16. Cf.le,gei o` qeo,j(Act 2:17);
le,gei to. pneu/maand its variant expressions (Act 21:11; 1 Tim 4:1; Heb 3:7; Rev 14:13); le,gei o` marturw/n tau/ta
additional self-predicative phrases to. a;lfa kai. to. w= ando` pantokra,twr that are also linked to the same subcolon matrix,Vegw, eivmi.65 This subcolon is linked hierarchically to the main matrix
le,gei ku,rioj o` qeo,j, denoting its content. The semantic relationship of ‘thesis and content’ is thereby formed between the colon and subcolon. These relations can be summarized by the following diagram:
Verse Colon Semantic
Configuration Relations
1:8 14.1a VEgw, eivmi to. a;lfa kai. to. w=( thesis
14 le,gei ku,rioj o` qeo,j( thesis
14.1b o` w'n kai. o` h=n kai. o` evrco,menoj( equiv. thesis content
14.1c o` pantokra,twrÅ equiv. thesis
Based on the above arguments, henceforth we will examine the interrelatedness between the three embedded micro-paragraphs within the second paragraph. The third and fourth micro- paragraphs are remarkably interrelated by their lexical items. The repeated pronominal references of the first person plural in the fourth micro-paragraph –h`ma/jandh`mw/n– refer back to the sender and the recipients in the epistolary superscription and adscription of the third micro-paragraph. Moreover, such key lexical items in the fourth micro-paragraph as substantive participles (i.e.,tw/| avgapw/nti andlu,santi), anaphorical references (i.e.,auvtw/|,auvtou/, andauvto.n), and the subject of the third person singular verbs (i.e.,evpoi,hsenande;rcetai), all ultimately refer back to Jesus Christ from whom the greeting was given at the end of the third micro-paragraph. These lexical threads between the two units imply that they may have a high degree of semantic cohesion, even though it is less cohesive than their inner cohesion. The threefold titles of God and Christ which are highlighted in the third micro-paragraph connote a temporal aspect; that is,
65
divinely decreed history ultimately anticipates its penultimate-appointed time – God’s coming into the world or the establishment of the messianic kingdom. This temporal aspect is clarified and emphasized in the fourth micro-paragraph, particularly in its two focal points where the anomalous syntagmatic arrangement and the emphatic phrase are used. In detail, the two focal points – ‘what Christ has already done for the audience’ (esp. colon 6-7) and ‘what His coming will bring in’ (esp. colon 9ff) – imply the forward-moving aspect of the salvific history in light of the typical NT eschatological time framework of ‘already-and-not-yet’. In this sense, the temporal aspect of the third micro-paragraph is somewhat heightened by a Christ-centred time framework of the fourth micro-paragraph. Therefore, it may be said that the two micro- paragraphs form a semantic relationship of ‘thesis and clarification’.
More significantly, the divine threefold title o` w'n kai. o` h=n kai. o` evrco,menoj in the third
micro-paragraph forms aninclusiowith precisely the same phrase in the fifth micro-paragraph,
marking the beginning and ending of a larger unit – the second paragraph.66 Theinclusio, itself signifying all history under the sovereignty of God, embraces the Christ-centred time framework of the central part that is moving forward to its penultimate-appointed time.
Thus, the three micro-paragraphs are cohesively embedded in the second paragraph that emphasizes the ever-forward-moving aspect of God-directed history in terms of grammatical
anomalies, an emphatic phrase, and the time-related inclusio. Its overall co-textual flow
converges in the fifth micro-paragraph which defines the preceding units. Nevertheless, the
fourth micro-paragraph is highlighted in the second paragraph by the time-related inclusio
between the third and fifth micro-paragraphs.